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tv   BBC World News  BBC America  February 25, 2014 6:00am-7:01am EST

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this is bbc america. and now, live from london, "bbc world news". hello. i'm geeta guru-murthy with "bbc world news". our top stories. russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov said it's the wrong time to force ukraine to choose between his country and the west. >> it is dangerous and counterproductive to try to impose on ukraine a choice based on the principal either you are with us or you are against us. i'm tim willcox live in kiev. a warning of dangerous signs of
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separatism in some parts of the country. a south africa judge just ruled the oscar pistorius murder trial will be partial lly televised. why south sudan is one of the most dangerous places on earth for women to give birth. >> reporter: hello and welcome to kiev. i'm tim willcox just above independence square where people are still singing on the stage here. but the number of protesters and demonstrators is thinning. the focus of attention now is on the ukrainian parliament. we just heard that the interim president says the national transitional government should be formed out by thursday. that's two days. they hoped to have set that up
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by today. they are warning of dangerous signs of separatism in some parts of the country. that follows comments by sergei lavrov in the last few hours. >> translator: we can find our principal position not interference in the ukrainian domestic affairs. we hope everyone will adhere to similar logic and use the existing contacts with various political forces in the ukraine to calm the situation down but not to seek opportunistic one-sided advantages the a stage where national dialogue is necessary. we agree with our luxembourg partners that is is dangerous and counterproductive to try to impose on ukraine on the principal that you are either for us or against us.
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>> reporter: let's go to moscow and speak do bridgett kendall. the language the last 48 hours has varied, hasn't it, bridgett? are you detecting any change now where you are? >> reporter: it feels as though sur day lavrov has stepped back yesterday. and questioned the legitimacy. talked about an armed rebellion having taken place. what we are hearing from mr. lavrov is a clear statement that russia adheres to the principal of noninterference in domestic affairs of other countries. he is waiting to see what sort of new government there will be. and would russia be prepared to
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take part in any new donor crisis. he didn't say no, given we don't want anything to do with this new government which was the tenor yesterday. instead he said we're waiting to see what the policies of the new government are. and he laid out conditions saying there needs to be an end to violence. there needs to be a restoration of law and order and national reconciliation. but at the same time, tim, the other strain of russian alarm does continue. this morning they expressed outrage at the continued dismantling of monuments in ukraine. the latest they say was in western ukraine. the demolition of amonment to a russian war hero. there have been other statues pulled down. number one, moscow is biding its time waiting to see exactly who
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will be in the new government and whether it wants to reach out a hand to russia. and this whole question of just how much tension there is in the hot spot particularly where the big russian naval base is in the black sea. russia is leaving open the possibility i think that it might respond to that. >> okay. bridgett with the very latest in moscow. thank you very much. all the people i have been speaking to here and indeed it seems from politicians in the ukrainian parliament want to retain the geographic al integrity of 46 million people. just picking up on that point bridgett made of dismantling of statues and the concerns about that in the west of the country, interestingly, in the last few
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hours we have just seen these pictures of protesters dismantling the russian star from the parliament building a few hundred meters away from where i am standing now. we'll bring you all the latest developments including comments by baroness ashton and the request by ukraine for international aid for its economy which is in dire financial straits. >> tim willcox in kiev. to other news today now. within the last hour a south african judge ruled that the trial of the olympic athlete oscar pistorius will be televised but only partially. he is due to stand trial for murder after shooting dead his give reeva steenkamp a year ago. witness testimony may be
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televised. >> coverage does not carry the intrusive potential form of coverage. in my view, why no image of pistorius and his witnesses when they testify? they should, however, be heard on radio. >> just expend a little bit more, how big a decision is this to televise even part of the trial? >> reporter: geeta, this is a historic decision for the south african legal system. they made it clear that cameras are allowed to fill in the trial, the opening arguments and the closing arguments, including the judgments. and they had if witnesses do not want to appear, they must put it in writing. otherwise, it will be assumed they will appear on tv.
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audio throughout the trial will be allowed. but also the accused may not be filmed. no flash photography will be allowed in there. and the cameras that will be allowed, the three television cameras will have to have no person operating them. they have to be operated remotely. so those are the conditions that the judge has put on this historic judgment to allow oscar pistorius's trial to be fill manied on television. it starts on the 3rd of march, next monday. a channel broadcasting 24 hours above the trial will be launched in south africa by multichoice. >> does it seem they will accept this ruling? can they appeal against it? obviously whilst there's a
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balance for transparency there's also worry about a media circus forming. >> it's not entirely clear whether they will pursue this judgment. we are days away from this trial. so it's not clear if an appeal is going to be lodged soon. they haven't made the pledge yet. but what we know is that the senior counsel for oscar pistorius was clear that if the cameras are allowed his client will receive an unfair trial. and witnesses will know as they speak in court the whole world will be watching them. so the judge made it clear. that's why he imposed that condition that witnesses will have to put it in writing if they do not want to be filmed.
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>> it's going to be very keenly watched the next few days. thanks very much. the united states has asked iraq to explain media reports that it is buying weapons worth hundreds of millions of dollars from iran. the u.s. says any deal would be a direct violation of the u.s. arms embargo on iran. the contract to buy $195 million worth of arms was signed in november last year, just after iraqi prime minister nuri al maliki returned for extra weapons to fight al qaeda linked militants. a close ally of mr. maliki's government in iraq. a spokesman said the united states has provided more than $15 billion in equipment, services and training to iraqi armed services and security. to explain this a bit more, bbc persian. is this surprising or new, the fact that there is a lot of
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cooperation between iraq and iran? the united states stepping it up. >> if you follow iran, it's not that surprising. the figure is surprising. >> $195 million worth of arms is quite a bit. and in terms of iran's arms industry and exports, i think it sort of constitutes a big chunk. the fact is that iran's arms industry is under embargo. iran technically cannot expert arms to any country. so if this is true then it is illegal, a. and, b, iran has been producing a lot of arms in the last two, three decades, in fact. because itself has been under embargo of importing arms. so it is quite sophisticated and
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quite expensive. the volume has obviously diminished because of the international arms embargo. if this is true, 195 million is quite a lot. >> and what will happen now in terms of iraq being asked to explain? have they responded? >> no. but the iranians have responded saying we did not do this, and they denied it. we have the iranian ambassador in baghdad saying that denying this report. but also adding if iraq asks us about any arms shipments or they need any arms, we are willing to consider that. so obviously relationship is quite close between the two countries. and how true this is. obviously reuters, which broke
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the story, they have seen documents that show that iraqis want that from iran. >> if it was to be true or true in the future this, again, emphasizes the whole shia/sunni split in the region. >> the relationship is nothing secret. it's very, very close. and many of those people in the shiite community lived in iran for many years. they have relatives across the border. so it's very close. and with the shiite government in power in baghdad, i wouldn't be surprised if there was quite a lot of trade between the two sides in terms of arms. as i said, technically speaking, this is illegal if it's true.
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>> thank you very much. in other news today, the new italian prime minister matteo renzi will face a second round of votes for reform. he needs the support of the lower house of parliament. he is proposing election law changes, tax cuts, and investment in jobs to tackle italy's ailing economy. lebanese officials say israeli jets carried out two air strikes in the east of the country near the syrian border. the target is likely to have been a weapons store where a convoy of hezbollah. they have used air strikes in the past to stop the hand over of weapons from syria to hezbollah. the turkish prime minister said he will take legal action over a recording in which he appears to tell his son to dispose of large sums of cash.
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he said the recording has been fabricated. meanwhile, a prosecutor has denied allegations that he ordered 7,000 prominent figures, including ministers and business leaders. social networking of a different kind. aaron? >> can you read mandarin or cantonese? >> certainly not. >> the professional networking site linkedin is expanding into china with a new chinese language service. it's a bit of a doozy. censorship. they have all clashed with chinese authorities in the past over policies towards internet
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freedom. we will discuss it on "gmt" in just over an hour's time. what about this, in barcelona, we talked about it yesterday. it's in full swing today. monday evening it was samsung's turn to reveal its latest creation. the galaxy x5. a fingerprint reader. it has a heart monitor and camera. will the limited improvements be enough to stave off the competition now? we will have to wait until april when that phone goes on sale. samsung didn't tell us how much this new baby is going to cost. now, here's a question for you, where in the world is the best place to do business? we've been talking a lot certainly on our programs about the the rising cost of presidential important as the global economy recovers. but office property is also rising. in a recent survey of 138 business districts in 60 countries, all of testimony
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right here comes out as the most expensive place in the world to rent office space. moscow climbed from being the 10th to the 6th most expensive. nigeria now also makes that top ten. occupancy costs in paris, they fell by 12%. again, something we're going to cover on "gmt" and again, as i said, in just over an hour's time. if you want to follow me on twitter, tweet me, i promise to tweet you back. @bbcaaron. >> it is expensive living here, i can tell you. thanks very much, aaron. stay with us here on "bbc world news". still to come, street skirmishes in venezuela as anti-government protesters call for the president to resign. humans. one day we're coming up with the theory of relativity, the next... not so much. but that's okay. you're covered with great ideas like optional better car replacement from liberty mutual insurance. total your car, and we give you
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this is "bbc world news". i'm geeta guru-murthy. south sudan is one of the most dangerous nations on earth to give birth. according to the charity save the children, around the world a million babies die within the first 24 hours of being born. well, one of the key measures of global welfare is rate of infant mortality. so that report published by save the children does make for worries reading. it claims that the deaths of half a million newborn babies each year could be prevented with better care. george alagiah is there and sent us this report from the town of kaporta. >> reporter: it's a blistering 37 degrees centigrade under the african sun.
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a group of women are walking to their anti-natal class. the midwife supported by save the children is one of just 300 for a population of 10 million. in the uk, we have 21,000 midwives. that's regarded as too few by some. angelina had delivered a baby just a few hours earlier and she took me to see the new mother and baby. after some discussion, the elder women said it was okay to go in. >> thank you very much for letting us into your home, especially on the day your baby has been born. >> translator: i have my first four children here in the village. but for this one we decided to go to the clinic. it's much cleaner than here. >> reporter: so i guess this is the way things should be. a little baby girl delivered in the clinic but now back home. in the rest of south sudan it's a different story. nine of ten women get nowhere near a clinic.
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and that's all right. but what happens when there are complications? the journey to the village took about an hour in our four-wheel-drive vehicle. imagine doing it on foot. you can't call an ambulance here. so it's over there, is it? within minutes, it became obvious that the experience of childbirth in this village is much more typical of south sudan. nikina lost her baby last year. in fact, 5,000 babies died before making it through their first 24 hours every year. the midwife here monica took me to meet a woman who lost her child just last week. she told me she was away from home, out collecting grass to reroof her hut when she realized she had started bleeding. it took her three days to get to a clinic, too late to save her baby.
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we were on our way out when we came across this woman. app example of the challenges they face as midwives. she had been to tnatal classes. it was a long labor. sadly, she lost her child. can you explain to me, monica, why she didn't go back to the clinic when her labor started? >> here you are in a clinic. it's only 45 minutes away, and yet children are dying. what goes through your mind when that happens? >> it is very painful. >> the welfare of children has been a particular focus for aid
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agencies. there's been remarkable progress around the world. but for too many children, the first day of life is still their only one. george alagiah, bbc news, south sudan. anti-government protesters in venezuela erected barricades in the capital caracas calling for the resignation of nicolas maduro. highways have been blocked following a series of protests in which 13 people have died. we have a rotor from caracas. >> reporter: barricades in caracas. this is how protesters are showing their discontent. they set garbage on fire and block main roads with old furniture. this protest followed an anonymous call for a great national barricade that was circulated on social networks. opposition leader capriles asked
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protesters to stay away from the road blocks and refrain from violence. despite his conciliatory words, on monday he refused to go to a meeting of governors and mayors where he was due to meet president nicolas maduro. mr. maduro has been showing his strength and popular support. every day a different sector is marched in support of the president. on monday it was the turn of motorcyclists. and he maintains the same strong language. >> translator: it is not a protest. venezuela is facing a fascist coup d'etat. they want to put an end to democracy. >> reporter: so far with no dialogue and new protests every day, it seems venezuela is losing its middle ground. one side wants the president to
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leave, while the rest of the country, which for now remains a majority, believes the protesters are the enemy. bbc news, caracas. i'm back in a few minutes. just to give you the latest update on all of our top stories. stay with us if you can. er ] whether it takes 200,000 parts, ♪ 800,000 hours of supercomputing time, 3 million lines of code, 40,000 sets of eyes, or a million sleepless nights. whether it's building the world's most advanced satellite, the space station, or the next leap in unmanned systems. at boeing, one thing never changes. our passion to make it real. ♪ (voseeker of the sublime.ro.. you can separate runway ridiculousness... from fashion that flies off the shelves. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle...
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because an empty pan is a blank canvas. [ woman #2 ] to share a moment. [ woman #3 ] to travel the world without leaving home. [ male announcer ] whatever the reason. whatever the dish. make it delicious with swanson.
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[ male announcer ] whatever the reason. whatever the dish. i cthis year aloneore places offi hit new york...ist. and texas! see, hotwire checks the competition's rates every day... so they can guarantee their low hotel prices. ♪ h-o-t-w-i-r-e ♪ hotwire.com i'm geeta guru-murthy with "bbc world news". our top stories. ukraine's interim president alexander warns of dangerous signs of separatism in some parts of the country. soviet star is removed from the parliament building. >> it is dangerous and counterproductive to try and impose on ukraine a choice based on the principal. either you are with us or against us. >> in other news, a south african judge just ruled that
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the oscar pistorius murder trial will be televised with conditions. >> we look at why south sudan is one of the most dangerous plates on earth for women to give birth. and why the netherlands can boast of having the smoothest winter olympic team on ice. hello. we begin in ukraine where the next steps following the effective change of regime look increasingly uncertain. the interim president has warned of dangerous signs of separatism as he sees it in parts of his country. well, he had been due to finalize a new government of national unity today. but that's been put back until thursday at the earliest. ukraine's giant eastern neighbor
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russia has called for the west to refrain from interfering in the situation. sergei lavrov said it would be dangerous to force ukraine to choose where to align itself. >> translator: we confirmed our principal position, noninterference in the ukrainian domestic affairs. and we hope that everyone will adhere to similar logic and use the existing contacts with various political forces in ukraine to calm the situation down. but not to seek opportunistic one-sided advantages at a stage where national dialogue is necessary. we agree with our luxembourg partners that it is dangerous and counterproductive to try and impose on ukraine a choice based on the principal. either you are with us or against us. we want to see ukraine part of the common european family in
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every sense of the word. >> sergei lavrov there. well, with the latest from kiev, duncan crawford has just sent this from independence square. >> reporter: this is a specialist riot police truck. it's been taken by the protesters and brought here to independence square. if you just swing around to the side here you can see it has graffiti. the protesters took control of this truck. if you just move over here you can see there is this military style vehicle. this armored vehicle. this has been taken from the museum in kiev. also a new addition to independence square. for whatever government emerges here is going to be reestablish control in the center of kiev. at the moment vigilante groups, self-defense units who are in
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charge of patrolling the streets, the police and the security services have largely disappeared. when you speak to the men who man the barricades they say they're not going anywhere until new elections are held. and those aren't scheduled until may. >> out on the streets, protesters have been attempting to remove russian influence. up on the spy, a man tries to hack off the soviet star and finally takes it down. we don't quite know whether he kept it as a souvenir. the search is on for the ousted president viktor yanukovych whose whereabouts are still unknown. he was last seen in the ukrai ukraine's crimean peninsula. mark, the view from there is very, very different, isn't it? how would you describe the public reaction there today?
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>> reporter: there are talks in kiev about how it is being destroyed. here it is very different. let me show you the scene behind me. there is the statue of lennon. he stands proud and tall. beneath him is a small crowd of people. some waving flags of russia. they gathered here in order to protect this city from the anti-government demonstrations in independence square in maidan as it is called. this is a couple hours dry from the russian border. it is where viktor yanukovych was born. it is bitterly cold. he was governor of this region. and this was his support base. it is where he was helped to power. even in the administration his support is waning.
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there's a small crowd there. many say they don't support yanukovych. they support russia. we spoke to the governor of this region, and he told us that he no longer sees viktor yanukovych as authority in this country. >> translator: the decision of the parliament is legal and was passed by a constitutional majority. therefore, i confirm that i accept the decision of the parliament regarding the removal of the president from power. >> do you know where viktor yanukovych is? >> i don't know. >> reporter: so still no sign of ukraine's most wanted man. already, geeta, the focus has shifted to who takes over from him. who can unite this polarized country, politically, geographically and logistically. at the moment there is no sign
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of one figure. >> just to let you know, it's just been reported by reuters, ukrainian parliament voted in favor of yanukovych being tried in international court for serious crimes. that's coming out of the ukrainian parliament. they are voting in favor of yanukovych being taken to the international criminal court. of course a number of people have been killed in the last few days before yanukovych stood down. we will update you on that as soon as anything changes on that. in other news today, within the last hour a south african judge ruled that the trial of olympic athlete oscar pistorius will be televised but only in part. the athlete is due to stand trial next week for murder after shooting dead his girlfriend reeva steenkamp just over a year ago. he's always said he mistook her for an intruder.
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witness testimony might be televised. >> the coverage does not carry the intrusive potential as the video form of coverage. in my view, whilst there may be no visual image of pistorius and his witnesses when they testify they should, however, be heard on radio. >> that was some of the judges ruling. i spoke about the judgment. >> cameras will be allowed to record the trial of oscar pistorius when it starts next month on the 3rd of march. this is a historic judgment for south african legal system. because in the past the only cameras is that have been allowed are to fill in a judgment being read for what we just saw. but for the whole trial running day in, day out with arguments
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presented in courts by both sides of the divide is pretty historic. he quoted from the constitution the balance of freedom of the press and the constitutional right for individuals to have a free trial. so he had a lot of case law to coat from. but in the end the judge says that cameras will be allowed next week when oscar pistorius trial begins. one of the key measures of global welfare is the rate of infant mortality. so a report published today by the charity save the children makes for worrying reading. it comes at the deaths of half a million newborn babies each year could be prevented with better care. that is despite great advances over recent years n. 1990, the number of children under the age of five who died every year stood at 12.9 million. well, we move forward to 2012
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and that has gone down to 6.6 million. save the children estimates that more than half of these lives could have been saved. one of the plates where the challenge of the first 24 hours is at its greatest is in south sudan. george alagiah is there and sent this report. >> reporter: it's a a little bittering 37 degrees centigrade under the african sun. a group of pregnant women from the area are walking to their anti-natal class. the midwife at this health center supported by save the children is one of 300 for a population of 10 million. in the uk, we have 21,000 midwives. and that's regarded as too few by some. angelina had delivered a baby just a few hours earlier, and
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she took me to see the new mother and baby. after some discussion, the elder women said it was okay to go in. >> thank you very much for letting us into your home, especially on the day your baby has been born. >> translator: i have my first four children here in the village. but for this one we decided to go to the clinic. it's much cleaner than here. >> so i guess this is the way things should be. a little baby girl delivered in the clinic but now back home. in the west of south sudan, it's a different story. nine of ten women get nowhere near a clinic. that's all right, but what happens when there are complications? the journey to the village took an hour in our four-wheel-drive vehicle. imagine doing it on foot. you can't call an ambulance here. so it's over there, is it? within minutes, it became obvious that the experience of childbirth is much more different in this town.
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nakina lost her baby last year. the midwife here monica took me to meet a woman who lost her child just last week. lakuta told me she was away from home, collecting grass to re-roof her hut when she realized she started bleeding. it took her three days to get to a clinic, too late to save her baby. we were on our way out and margaret and monica came across this woman, an example of the challenges they face as midwives. latrota had been to her natal classes. she have in many ways a model mother. but she came back to her village here, it was a protracted labor, long labor and, sadly, she lost her child. can you explain to me, monica,
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why she didn't go back to the clinic when her labor started? >> actually we have asked her and she said it was the eldest. >> what goes through your mind when that happens? >> it is very painful. >> the welfare of children has been a particular focus for aid agencies. there's been remarkable progress around the world. but for too many children, the first day of life is still their only one. george alagiah, bbc news, south sudan. british police have detained the former guantanamo detainee on suspicion of terrorism offenses. he was arrested in birmingham
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here in the uk this morning. he's been held on suspicion of attending a terrorist training camp and facilitating overseas to other men and women. he was imprisoned by the united states in guantanamo bay in 2003. he was released without charge nearly two years later. >> right. with us here on "bbc world news". much more to come. top gear, top show. how the best tv programs make it on to our screens around the world. [ female announcer ] we'll cook all day today,
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this is "bbc world news". i'm geeta guru-murthy with the latest headlines for you. ukraine's parliament just decided to refer its former president viktor yanukovych to the international criminal court in the hague. it says he was responsible for the deaths of more than 100
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protesters. south african judge has ruled that the trial of the olympic athlete oscar pistorius will be partially televised. the united states has asked iraq to explain media reports that it is buying weapons worth hundreds of millions of dollars from iran. the u.s. says any deal would be a direct violation of the u.n.'s arms embargo on iran. according to reports, the contract by $195 million worth of arms was signed in november last year, just after the iraqi prime minister nuri al maliki return returned. iran is a close ally of the shia-dominated government in iraq. a state department spokeswoman said the united states has already provided more than $15 billion in equipment and training to iraqi armed services.
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>> reporter: the figure is surprising $195 million worth of arms is quite a bit. in terms of iran's arms industry i think it constitutes a big chunk. the fact is when iran's arms industry is under embargo. iran technically cannot export arms to any country. so if this is true then it is illegal, a. and, b, iran has been producing a lot of arms in the last two, three decades. because itself has been under embargo of importing arms. so the arms industry is quite sophisticated and quite
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expansive. it has distinguished because of the arms embargo on iran. but if this is true, 195 million is quite a lot. anti-government protesters in venezuela eye recollected barricades in the capital caracas calling for the resignation of nicolas maduro. highways have been blocked following a series of protests in which 13 people have died. we have a rotor from caracas. >> reporter: barricades in caracas. this is how protesters are showing their discontent. they set garbage on fire and block main roads with old furniture.
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this protest followed an anonymous call for a great national barricade that was circulated on social networks. opposition leader capriles asked protesters to stay away from the road blocks and refrain from violence. despite his conciliatory words, on monday he refused to go to a meeting of governors and mayors where he was due to meet president nicolas maduro. mr. maduro has been showing his strength and popular support. every day a different sector is marched in support of the president. on monday it was the turn of motorcyclists. and he maintains the same strong language. >> translator: it is not a protest. venezuela is facing a fascist coup d'etat. they want to put an end to democracy. >> reporter: so far with no dialogue and new protests every day, it seems venezuela is losing its middle ground. one side wants the president to leave, while the rest of the country, which for now remains a majority, believes the protesters are the enemy. bbc news, caracas.
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now, tv producers are always on the lookout for new material. they're increasingly buying and selling formats around the world. how do our tv shows travel? >> the man speaking is of course johnny clarkson. the joke might lose something in translation, but iran is rather partial to "top gear." >> in finland -- >> what's number one in british tv in finland? >> at the moment it's definitely "downton abbey". >> heartbeat.
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we are making re-runs. and the audience is absolutely amazing. >> tv is increasingly globalized. if you want to go shopping you come to events like this. this event began 37 years ago. then it was in a small hotel in brighton with two dozen people. now you can see we have row after row after row. 600 booths, 720 buyers all watching television. 10 hours a day, determining what the world is going to be watching on tv. increasingly, it's global producers creating global brands and then adapting them. take dancing. unlike britain, in india there are no nasty judges. >> best performance i have ever seen. >> if i'm honest, probably the judges tend to be on the more positive side so there's less criticism. another example of that might be -- i was watching a version of it in panama and found even
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in week 1 the judges were handing out 10s. >> the u.s. is suffering at the moment. no matter how good a series you have and you put it on the schedule, the figures are quite low. >> why? >> i don't know. that is something i have discussed with my colleagues all over europe. and everybody is feeling somehow the same. >> the new drama super power in the middle east is turkey. and the market everyone wants to break is china. this is their "masterchef." >> benedict? >> i don't know. he's got a nickname in chinese fans. >> these are the world's most powerful tv viewers. but here a smile on their faces and it could be very big news. bbc news, liverpool.
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now, the netherlands athletes returned home to a hero's welcome after their performance in sochi. they arrived in athens to show their haul of 24 medals, including eight golds. thousands came to congratulate them. all that success came can on the skating rink. how do they manage to dominate so comprehensively? >> reporter: could this 400-meter rink hold the secret to team nl's success? it was used as a model for sochi. the director says it's a copy cat track. >> they came over here to talk to our people, our technical people how to prepare ice and getting it to be fast. >> reporter: like sochi, this is one of the fastest low lying rinks in the world. the dutch are among the tallest people on the planet. has this helped to increase
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their speed? >> we are sitting lower than we usually did in the last years, 10 years ago, for example. >> if i make myself compact you see what happens? >> you're extending. >> it is extending a lot. i'm flexible. i'm using my long legs but aerodynamically i have control. >> reporter: the prototypes were invented inside an aeronautical studies department. >> it is one of the two bigger innovations in skating. one was the skates and the other was roughness on suits with a four runner. it was taken over by raw fabric. >> reporter: modern skin suits have this technology. is it simply that skating is in
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the dutch dna? that wouldn't explain the relatively recent dominance. what might is a deliberate effort to invest in the ideas and infrastructure to maximize their potential. >> we facility them the right way. and we invest in the proper funds so they can be dedicated to their sports and reaching the highest they can be on an olympic level. >> you just have to look at their faces to see how someone is standing on ice skates in this country but finding it very difficult to actually move. they say that dutch children learn to skate before they can even walk. and it shows. these children are literally running rings around me. it is incorporated into the curriculum here. this is a competition of 10-year-olds competing. this early education is evident in sochi. so we're going to find out what
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we can learn from these girls who could be the olympic champions of the future. be confident, stand up and don't be shaky. >> yes. >> reporter: bbc news on the ice. thanks for being with us today. cars.com made it easy, bu. [ man ] we thought it might be a little more tense. you miss the drama? yeah. [ technician ] ask him whatever you want. okay. ♪ do you think my sister's prettier than me? ♪ [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] research, price, find. only cars.com helps you get the right car without all the drama. when you feel bloated, discomfort, gas, not to mention the rumbling... you feel totally knocked out. eat activia. twice a day for four weeks. activia may reduce the frequency of minor digestive issues like bloating, gas, discomfort and rumbling. activia, feeling good starts from the inside.
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